DEI at Lareau

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, often referred to as DEI, are increasingly prevalent topics in our society and, as a result, in our businesses. But what do they mean?

According to the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, diversity is inherent to the individual. It encompasses all of a person’s qualities and unique characteristics. Our team aims to be as diverse as possible and to welcome differences in all their forms with respect.

According to the University of Quebec in Montreal, equity is about the principle of justice. It involves treating every person fairly, regardless of their identity. At Lareau, we want to be impartial and apply the company’s practices and policies with utmost respect for the differences and characteristics of team members.

Again, according to the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, the final component of DEI, inclusivity, pertains to the community. It involves celebrating equity and respecting people’s differences by creating or maintaining a culture that places it at the core of its priorities. Our team aims to foster an environment where all team members feel valued and recognized while sharing the certainty of being an integral part of the organization.

To take a significant first step in our exploration of DEI, we established a committee at Lareau in the spring of 2022. We want to enhance our understanding of this important issue, implement concrete actions for change, and raise awareness within our entire team internally. Our team encouraged voluntary applications and focused on achieving a diverse composition for the committee.

One of the first actions taken by the committee was to conduct a DEI survey at Lareau in collaboration with the Credo company, ensuring complete anonymity of responses. Here are the key findings from the survey:

• 91% of respondents feel that their managers care about their team’s well-being.
• 78% of respondents have a positive perception of career advancement within the company and do not perceive differences between genders or diversities regarding advancement.
• 95% of respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with their manager’s openness to their differences.
• 99% of respondents stated that they would recommend Lareau as an employer of choice.

Despite these positive findings, we have identified an area where we can improve right now: inclusion in communication languages. Practically all our internal communications are conducted in French, yet we have several colleagues who are English monolingual. Here are some steps we plan to take to address this issue:

• Translate our documentation and communications so that these individuals have the same level of communication as the rest of the team.
• Inform the team more about DEI, including through:
  • Informative workshops.
  • Articles in our internal newsletter.
  • Mandatory training during onboarding and integration.
• We aim to find a way to make our clients more aware of our values, culture, and our commitment to reflecting DEI.
• We want to be more proactive in addressing internal situations involving DEI.

Our DEI committee and our team have much to teach us about diversity, equity, and inclusion. We aspire to continually improve to provide our colleagues and our clients with an environment where everyone can thrive and feel our goodwill.